Okay, a couple more random thoughts

1. Anonymous strikes again! And the message is so true and deserves mentioning.

"You have a charmed life compared to others"

Absolutely. I think this is sometimes a fact that we lose sight of. It's easy to get wrapped up in the trials and tribulations of our own lives. Things don't go our way and we think we are SO unlucky, things are SO terrible, how will we EVER get through this, woe is me. What we fail to do sometimes is step back and take an honest look at our lives. Colleen has been on inpatient pediatrics for the past few weeks. She has been working with the sickest kids in the hospital. It's just absolutely heartbreaking to hear the stories. Kids that will never get a chance at adult life. The parents whose hearts are breaking as they see their children in pain. It just makes you really realize how good you have it. I have been so fortunate in my life. I have a wonderful family, great friends, a warm house, good health, and a phenomenal education. I'm not saying that people who lived charmed lives shouldn't ever complain. Everyone needs to vent. At my house, my roommates and I use our bitching for humor and comic relief. But we all need to realize that our complaints are truly minor, and to appreciate the lives we lead.

2. Transdermal NSAIDS

I had a slight injury to my foot recently. It was just a case of tenosynovitis of the extensor tendon of my toe. I knew this wasn't a season ending injury or anything, but it was very painful and getting worse with each run I did. I laid off it for a week, but when I ran the pain came back. Because I recently had erosive gastritis caused by NSAID use during a long run, I can't take NSAIDs by mouth anymore. So I was stuck with ice, and icy hot (which brought back great memories of HS swimming!)

Anywho, Jonathan recommended a topical anti-inflammatory, but my local hippie pharmacy didn't have it. But the cool pharmacist, who seemed to know more than I ever would have expected about sports injury, recommended I get a prescription for flurbiprofin/ketoprofin, a long lasting trans-dermal anti-inflammatory gel that they made. Thankfully, I work with a bunch of docs who could call it in for me.

Well, it's expensive- $48/30 grams, but it is worth every penny. Within a day my tendon was finally slipping through it's sheath comfortably (before, I could feel it creaking as the inflammation was preventing proper tracking). Now the swelling is almost gone. The pharmacist also showed me a bunch of places to check on my foot and knees for running pain that might be able to use a little treatment (thankfully I don't have pain in any of those places).

Because of my experience with oral NSAIDs, I highly recommend people out there consider transdermal agents for joint and muscle inflammation. My Dad recently talked to a gastroenterologist who said that ulcers and erosive gastritis are extremely common in endurance athletes who take NSAIDs. So if you can, save your stomachs!

3. Join our Triathlon network!

See the link on the sidebar I have for the Triathlon feedburner network? We're trying to get a larger network together of triathletes. If you're interested in your blog being added to our little circle, just email Gary for more details: garyditsch at gmail dot com

Suck It Up, Princess!

I haven't been blogging a whole lot lately. That's because I was in a serious funk. SERIOUS. Ever since the GI bleed I felt like total crap. No motivation, I gained 7 pounds, felt like garbage, tired, lethargic, crabby. The thing that I've hated the most is swimming. Friggin swimming! It's like the one thing I've always been able to do to make me feel better. So last Sunday I was in a funk again. I couldn't run because of my foot and I was crabby. I was scheduled to do a 3500 yard straight swim, last 600 race pace. I HATE these swims. There is just nothing in the world more boring than a 3500 straight swim in a 25 yard pool by yourself. So I started whining:

I hate swimming. I mean, this is so retarded. Why would I need to do 3500 straight? The IM is 4 months away. It's not like I lack confidence in the water. I can swim 2.4 miles in my sleep. This is retarded. Fine, I'll go but I'm not doing the workout. I'll do some 500's pull or something. Yeah, that's what I'll do.

So I went to the gym, got my pull buoy and jumped in the water to warm up. I thought about how I was going to post a bitchy blog about how I didn't know why I was doing this, how I just didn't want to do anything, just basically negative. 500 yards in I started thinking

Ya know, this isn't really that bad. I mean, look over in the lane next to you. See that guy who keeps pacing you on his 50 sprints. He's working way too hard. And check out the butch lady doing the militant breastroke with flip turns. And here you are, swimming smoothly and bitching about how tough your life is. Geez. Suck it up Princess!

And then it all turned around. At 1000 yards I decided to keep going. To make the time pass I alternated 10 lengths breathe every 4 strokes to the right, 10 lengths breathe every 4 strokes left, 10 lengths breathe every 3 strokes. Before I knew it, the 3500 was done.

So if you're ever in a funk and feeling sorry for yourself, just think about how much better you have it than everyone else at the gym. You're fit! You're training for something extraordinary! You're not doing the militant flip turning breastroke! And it will all turn around...

So as an update- My swims this week were phenomenal. My 100 time has come back down to right around 1:20, and I'm loving the pool again. The bike is still amazing and the fit is just wonderful. I did a 3 hour bike / 45 minute brick this morning with DaisyDuc and it was so fun. I've never had a 3 hour ride go by so fast. It literally felt like less than an hour. And my run is improving by leaps and bounds. My Zone 2 runs have come down to 9:30 miles, which is a speed I can live with. See, life is pretty damn good.

:-)

Meet Mike Honcho

Excuse the fact that I look like crud

:-)

But come on.... that bike is HOT

Happy Valentine's Day!

Yes, another blog. Wanna know why?

SNOW DAY! SNOW DAY! SNOW DAY! SNOW DAY! SNOW DAY!

It's crazy out there, people! When I shoveled last night I removed 12 inches, and let's just say it hasn't stopped snowing since then.

So.... No swimming today. Cross training activity of the day....

Shoveling!

Well, that's probably for the best, since I've hit yet another training setback. My shoe was, for some reason, tight on the top of my foot during my 2 hour run on Sunday, and now I have a nasty case of inflammation in the tendon. Can't run until that stops. Ice, Ice, Ice! Hopefully I'll be back by Sunday. Looks like I need new shoes.

Bike update: I haven't really gone into detail on this. Well I originally ordered a replacement Dual. Cervelo was having SERIOUS supply issues... got the runaround for a month, then I found out that I could go with a P2Sl for nearly the same price and they had a couple 48cm framesets available. Yay! So one was sent last week. I waited with bated breath. It was supposed to be in on Saturday. No luck. Not Sunday. On Monday I got an email from the bike store.

Bike Arrived

But....

UPS DESTROYED it. I believe the exact words were "it looked like they drove a forklift through it"

Welcome to my life, people.

Valentine Update

To anonymous who left a comment on my blog yesterday: I commend your bravery for leaving a snotty anonymous comment on my blog:

"That's a great gift but may I ask a question? Does a guy have to buy something in order to show a girl that he likes her? I mean seriously, would you still think he likes you even if he just got you a card with some kind words written in it for Valentine's Day."

First of all... this gave me a laugh because it reminded me of my very favorite movie growing up. Have you guys seen "Better off Dead"? It was one of the classic early John Cusack films. It's hilarious! Cusack's character is competing with this snooty rich guy for a girl's attention. For Valentine's Day he buys her a little teddy bear. He calls her in the morning to hear her describe her gift from the other guy. The camera is on him as he repeats her thoughts... "A Teddy Bear... bigger than you..."

well, if you've never seen it, go get it. It's great!

Ok back to my point. No, it's not the size of the gift that matters, it's the thought. Really. The gift was something that was very well thought of and sweet. My 128 MB Mp3 player was on its last legs, didn't hold enough music to get through my workouts, and I lost the transfer cable. And yes, I would have been equally impressed with a nice card with words on it, thank you very much. I am the LAST person you would call materialistic. Plus... I didn't say who it was from. For all you know, it was from my Dad.

And I DID get a Valentine yesterday from my Mom

The mom saga

She had warned me that she sent a package. When I got home yesterday I was really frustrated because I had to cut my run really short because of my foot issue. The 2 packages on my porch really lifted my spirits. The first was the iPod (yay!). In the second (from Mom): M&Ms, Gummi Bears, Cliff Bars, Dark Chocolate Kisses, lolipops, a very cute shirt, and a card with a $25 iTunes gift card. I immediately ripped open the M&Ms (Those that know me, should be aware that peanut M&Ms are my one true food vice. If I don't want to eat the entire package, I have to give roommmie Matt my candy to take to his room). Then with the gift certificate I bought the most Amazing CD: Norah Jones- Not Too Late. It's wonderful. I HIGHLY recommend it. So I gave my Mom a call...

Saga begins:

My mom is not feeling well.

What's wrong Mom?

I have the worst fever and shaking chills

So after 10 minutes of history taking, I find out that my Mom, WHO WORKS IN THE HEALTH FIELD, started having urinary symptoms 5 DAYS AGO. And yesterday she spikes a fever of 102.

PEOPLE

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE! Don't mess with bacterial infections.

Very few things in this world can kill you faster than bacteria in your blood. Urinary tract infections are easy to treat. Kidney infections are harder to treat. Blood stream infections are deadly. One can lead to the other, can lead to the other.

So after 2 hours, I finally convinced her to drive herself to the ER. I told her she needed antibiotics anyway, so rather than having a doctor that hasn't seen her call in a script, she might as well just go in. I knew that she needed IV antibiotics and fluid anyway, and in the off chance that she is septic (bloodstream infection) she will need to be admitted. So thankfully she went in, was diagnosed with, I think, Pyelonephritis, given IV antibiotics and fluid, and I think allowed to go home last night. I'll let ya know how she is today.

But I thought I'd add this little PSA for the women out there (and cycling can increase the prevalence of UTIs). If you get frequency or burning with urination- Do NOT take the "wait and see" approach. Go to the doctor as soon as you have symptoms. UTIs can get bad fast. If not developing into full blown pyelonephritis, they can develop into very painful and debilitating infections in a matter of hours. So don't wait. Please!

Rant off!

Have a great day out there. If you're in the midwest, I hope that you didn't have to go to work today. Enjoy the snow!

I got a Valentine!

And it's, like, the COOLEST gift EVER






Just thought I'd share. I think he likes me.....

:-)

Checking in

No, I haven't died! I had high hopes to write a nice blog yesterday, but then I did my brick. And I became a couch loser for the rest of the day. So before my 2 hour run and 1 hour swim turn me into a zombie today, I thought I should make a quick post!

Lots to say, so I'll break it down so you can skip over the boring parts ;-)

Health

So I had my endoscopy last week. First of all, Versed is an amazing wonder of modern medicine. I felt wonderful for about 2 hours after the procedure. I think I may have said some really stupid stuff to my roommate, though, but I don't think I want to know...

The diagnosis was erosive gastritis. It is only in the stomach, so that's a good thing. So now I'm taking a proton pump inhibitor, and a ton of iron. I'm on the accelerated track to get my blood counts back up ASAP because....

I'm going to a training camp!

On March 9th I leave to get my royal booty kicked by Paulo Sousa along with Jonathan Caron , Sergio Marques , Zach Ruble, and my wonderful camp roommate Judy . I have promised Judy that I will work my butt off this month so that I can keep up with her on our bike rides. So I have been pushing my trainer rides lately trying to get my strength back. It will help when I get my...

New Bike

My brand new Cervelo P2SL arrives soon. It's on a UPS truck currently. I already have a name for it. I will introduce you all to Mike Honcho as soon as he arrives. He is really going to distract me from

Writing my thesis

Yes, it is started and I have my final committee meeting tomorrow to set the big date! I have pushed back my goal because of the training camp, so I'm thinking mid-late April now for a defense. I'll keep ya'll posted. I've been getting a lot of motivation from my

Weekend Visitor

He is the one that made me start the damn thesis. I have been putting it off for some reason. Such a lack of motivation. He encouraged me to just get the template and start writing the Table of Contents, and it was amazing- It just started flowing from there! It's great. I have a lot of work to do tonight and my blogging has been suffering because of it, but hopefully you will all forgive me! I also went on the nicest date last weekend. My boss always gives me a $100 gift certificate to the Baricelli Inn , Cleveland's nicest restaurant. It was fabulous as always, and it's a good time to admit that I have

Fallen off the Vegan Bandwagon

I had the free range chicken at dinner at it was "WoW". My docs have encouraged me to add some meat back into my diet, so I've had a bit of chicken the past 2 weeks. I had forgotten how much I love it. Don't hate me, vegan bloggers.

Ok, I have to get ready for my run. A fabulous 2 hour run on the treadmill at school. They don't even have TVs in there. And to make things worse, I have lost the cable for my dinky little 128MB Mp3 player, so I've been listening to the same songs over and over for weeks. It's just wrong. So wish me luck that I don't die of boredom. I would do it outside, but I'm still not quite comfortable with my stomach and I don't want to be 6 miles from my car in case it decides to spring a big old blood leak again. So running on the hamster wheel it is!